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Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol, (October 2015), Volume No. 13, Issue 02  
 
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Egypt J Pediatr Allergy Immunol 2015 ; 13 ( 02 ) : 73 - 77
, ESP - 191  
Original articles
Detection of Vitamin (D) deficiency in children and adolescents suffering from bronchial asthma in Suez Canal University Hospital, Ismailia
Adel A. Abd El-Rahman   Nesrin M.Handoka   Soha E. Younes   Eman M. El- nagger      
Background. Recent data suggest that there is a worldwide epidemic of vitamin D deficiency and lack of vitamin D has been linked to increased incidence of asthma and increased severity of asthma in children. So, examination of the relationship between vitamin D and bronchial asthma was important. Objective. To determine serum vitamin D level in children and adolescents suffering from bronchial asthma and to detect relationship between vitamin D level and symptoms of asthma severity. Subjects and Methods. This study was a case –control study conducted on 40 asthmatic children and adolescents, their ages ranged from 2-18 years who were attending to pediatric department at Suez Canal University Hospital, and were previously diagnosed as bronchial asthma according to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Program (NAEPP) 2007. In addition, 40 age and sex matched healthy children served as a control group. All children were subjected to history taking, clinical examination, including; anthropometric measurements, and chest examination. Determination of serum level of 25-hydroxyvitamin D (25 OHD) [25(OH) D], total serum IgE level, and peripheral blood eosinophil count. Results. The mean age of the studied asthmatic children was 5.14 ± 2.87 years. Asthma was reported more common in girls than boys (55 % and 45% respectively). Asthma prevalence was higher in urban areas than rural ones. In our study, asthmatic patients had significantly lowered vitamin D levels than controls. We found that vitamin D insufficiency exists in 35% of studied asthmatic children. There was statistically significant negative correlation between vitamin D level and severity of asthma (p – value <0.001). Conclusion. Vitamin D insufficiency is relatively frequent in asthmatic patients who were attending to pediatric department at Suez Canal University Hospital. There was a significant inverse relationship between vitamin D levels and severity of asthma symptoms.